Janathon Day 14 : Casting a clout

"Ne'er cast a clout before May is out" as my grandma used to say. Never mind a clout today I cast off the two fleece sweaters and the fleece pants and exchanged them for a t-shirt and leggings when I set out for today's walk. Not a pretty sight at the moment but despite dressing down I still came back sweating cobblers!

My route today took my north alongside the Puglia Adriatic coastline. Following the coastal path from home towards Torre San Genarro and then on the esplanade into Torre San Genarro, down into the tiny harbour, and out along the esplanade into and through Campo di Mare. I made it to the other side of Campo di Mari just where there is a track leading off along the coast. This is nearly as far as I was walking this time last year before a foot injury ended play. I'm happy that I'm catching up with myself at last.



My goal is to continue along the coastal path until I reach Cerano Beach Lido, if that is possible. It's an unexplored route so the jury is out. It appears to be 5.6km so a 11km round trip ..... it's a goal. Maybe an own goal. I've never understood the appeal of Cerano Beach Lido, it's a nice enough beach but it sits right under the elecricity power station!

The small seaside towns are almost deserted just the odd person wandering around, a couple of fishermen in the harbour at TSG with today's catch for sale, workmen doing up one of the houses in the village, a dog-walker on the beach. So different from the summer months when the whole area will be buzzing, especially in July in August. The mass migration from San Pietro Vernotico to Torre San Gennaro, from Torchiarolo to Lendinuso and from Squinzano to Casalabate will probably start in May. Locals leaving their winter homes and returning to their summer houses to catch the sea breezes and join in the fun. More and more tourists are finding this area of the Salento, Puglia now .... but it is still very unspoilt.

The seaweed is in and the beaches are covered with it. It still amazes me how much the beaches here change from week to week, from sandy stretches, sand and shale in the summer months, pebble strewn throughout the autumn and winter, seaweed now and when that washes away back to pebbles, before returning to our summer sandy delight. The air as so clear today we could just make out the coast of Albania.

Back home again and straight into the garden for a good two hour session, still trimming, cutting back, weeding and pruning. A few days efforts and the results are starting to show. From an overgrown wilderness it is now possible to walk almost the full length of the garden along the east side of the house. From the working area (compost bins, shed, washing line) through the shrub-filled gravel garden and onto the new (nearly completely grouted) patio. It's looking good.

14 days into the #janathon challenge and my energy levels are up .... feeling good, motivated, and believing I will actually complete this challenge. Tomorrow is the weigh in after two complete weeks, feeling hopeful.

#janathon stats so far
walking       43.96km
cycling        11.00km
squats         460
gardening   9.5 hours

#alchohol free in 2015 -  8 days (today is day 9 ... not tempting fate by counting it until after midnight!)